€105 million cut from University of Luxembourg budget

A new agreement between the University of Luxembourg and the state foresees a 565 million euro budget for the four-year period from 2014 to 2017 – a budget cut of 105 million euros compared to plans presented last November.

10.04.2014

(CS/pley) A new agreement between the University of Luxembourg and the state foresees a 565 million euro budget for the four-year period from 2014 to 2017 – a budget cut of 105 million euros compared to plans presented last November.

Rector Rolf Tarrach commented to the “Luxemburger Wort” that he was surprised by the extent of the reduction in funding, explaining that he believed the development and expansion of the academic institution was a national priority.

“I am disappointed,” Tarrach said, adding that the university is now developing an “emergency plan” to accommodate the sudden loss in incoming cash.

The rector said that he hopes the University of Luxembourg can avoid lay-offs, while not ruling out an increase in tuition fees. The project to create a medical school at the university meanwhile have been scrapped completely.

At the same time the university if trying to attract more private investors to compensate for some of the loss in state funding.

What kind of university does Luxembourg want?

Not only has the university reduced overall funding for the four-year period, but over between 2014 and 2017 no budget increases are planned, despite rising costs, for example because of the indexation of wages.

Tarrach estimates that in 2014 the real value of the budget provided by the state will decrease by 13 percent.

The rector meanwhile urged policy-makers to decide what kind of university they want for Luxembourg, explaining that the institution is still struggling with the image of being a continuation of high school.

Without adequate funding, the University of Luxembourg will be unable to play its “role for the future of the country,” Tarrach said, adding that he cannot understand why one of the most important investments in Luxembourg's future was trimmed.

After all, developing a top university takes around 20 to 30 years, Tarrach said.

In his speech on the state of the nation last week, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel had said that research made in Luxembourg was one of the necessities for the country. Without directly referring to the university, but research institutions in Luxembourg as a whole, Bettel said: “Investments in research will not be cut over the next years, but will rise. In the long-term, 3 percent of GDP will be invested in research – from public and private sources.”